US5471068A - Semiconductor photodetector using avalanche multiplication and strained layers - Google Patents

Semiconductor photodetector using avalanche multiplication and strained layers Download PDF

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US5471068A
US5471068A US08/203,869 US20386994A US5471068A US 5471068 A US5471068 A US 5471068A US 20386994 A US20386994 A US 20386994A US 5471068 A US5471068 A US 5471068A
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semiconductor
semiconductor layer
strain
discontinuity
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Masayoshi Tsuji
Kikuo Makita
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NEC Corp
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NEC Corp
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    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B82NANOTECHNOLOGY
    • B82YSPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
    • B82Y20/00Nanooptics, e.g. quantum optics or photonic crystals
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01LSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L31/00Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
    • H01L31/0248Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof characterised by their semiconductor bodies
    • H01L31/0352Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof characterised by their semiconductor bodies characterised by their shape or by the shapes, relative sizes or disposition of the semiconductor regions
    • H01L31/035236Superlattices; Multiple quantum well structures
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01LSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L31/00Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
    • H01L31/08Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof in which radiation controls flow of current through the device, e.g. photoresistors
    • H01L31/10Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof in which radiation controls flow of current through the device, e.g. photoresistors characterised by potential barriers, e.g. phototransistors
    • H01L31/101Devices sensitive to infrared, visible or ultraviolet radiation
    • H01L31/102Devices sensitive to infrared, visible or ultraviolet radiation characterised by only one potential barrier
    • H01L31/107Devices sensitive to infrared, visible or ultraviolet radiation characterised by only one potential barrier the potential barrier working in avalanche mode, e.g. avalanche photodiodes
    • H01L31/1075Devices sensitive to infrared, visible or ultraviolet radiation characterised by only one potential barrier the potential barrier working in avalanche mode, e.g. avalanche photodiodes in which the active layers, e.g. absorption or multiplication layers, form an heterostructure, e.g. SAM structure
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02EREDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E10/00Energy generation through renewable energy sources
    • Y02E10/50Photovoltaic [PV] energy
    • Y02E10/548Amorphous silicon PV cells
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10STECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S977/00Nanotechnology
    • Y10S977/70Nanostructure
    • Y10S977/701Integrated with dissimilar structures on a common substrate
    • Y10S977/72On an electrically conducting, semi-conducting, or semi-insulating substrate
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10STECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S977/00Nanotechnology
    • Y10S977/70Nanostructure
    • Y10S977/755Nanosheet or quantum barrier/well, i.e. layer structure having one dimension or thickness of 100 nm or less
    • Y10S977/761Superlattice with well or barrier thickness adapted for increasing the reflection, transmission, or filtering of carriers having energies above the bulk-form conduction or valence band energy level of the well or barrier, i.e. well or barrier with n-integer-λ-carrier-/4 thickness
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10STECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S977/00Nanotechnology
    • Y10S977/70Nanostructure
    • Y10S977/813Of specified inorganic semiconductor composition, e.g. periodic table group IV-VI compositions
    • Y10S977/815Group III-V based compounds, e.g. AlaGabIncNxPyAsz
    • Y10S977/818III-P based compounds, e.g. AlxGayIn2P
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10STECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S977/00Nanotechnology
    • Y10S977/902Specified use of nanostructure
    • Y10S977/932Specified use of nanostructure for electronic or optoelectronic application
    • Y10S977/936Specified use of nanostructure for electronic or optoelectronic application in a transistor or 3-terminal device

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a semiconductor photodetector used in optical communication, optical data processing, optical measurement or the like, and particularly to an avalanche photodiode which is highly sensitive over a wide range of bandwidth and which suffers little noise while exhibiting a high speed response.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a typical InGaAs avalanche photodiode.
  • An avalanche photodiode will be hereinafter referred to as APD.
  • Formed on an n-type InP substrate 1 are an n-type InP buffer layer 2, an n-type InGaAs light absorptive layer 3, an n-type InP avalanche multiplier layer 4, an n-type InP cap layer 5, a p-type light receptor area 6, a p-type guard ring region 7 and a passivation film 8.
  • a p-side electrode 9 is connected to the light receptor area 6 while an n-side electrode 10 is connected to the substrate 1.
  • F. Capasso et al proposed a superlattice APD which aims at achieving the high sensitivity and a wide range of bandwidth through the increase of the ratio ⁇ / ⁇ by utilizing the discontinuity (discontinuity value ⁇ Ec) of the energies at the lower end of the conduction band to promote the ionization of the electron.
  • the same example is described in Applied Physics Letters (Pages 38 through 40, Vol. 40, 1982).
  • the band structure can be changed by applying a stress to the superlattice structure of the semiconductor and, in particular, the degeneration of the energy level of the heavy and light holes is released in the valence band.
  • Journal of Applied Physics pages 344 through 352, Vol. 67, 1990.
  • ⁇ EC greatly lends itself to the improvement of the ratio between the ionization factors.
  • the holes are piled up, and the bandwidth is suppressed due to the discontinuity (discontinuity value ⁇ Ev) of the energies at the upper end of the valence band.
  • an object of the present invention is to solve the foregoing problem and to provide an APD which is effective over a wide range of bandwidth and is low in noise while having a high response. More specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide an APD which is effective over a wide range of bandwidth and low in noise while having a high response by further increasing ⁇ EC to further increase the ratio between the ionization factors, or by decreasing ⁇ Ev to alleviate the pile-up of the holes, or by taking the energy level of the light hole as the ground level to reduce the effective mass of the hole so that the traveling time of the hole is shortened while the pile-up of the holes, which is caused by ⁇ Ev, is alleviated.
  • a semiconductor photodetector having at least, a light absorptive layer and a superlattice avalanche multiplier layer on a semiconductor substrate in which the superlattice avalanche multiplier layer comprises a first and second semiconductor layers and, when the mean ionizing energies of III group atoms and V group atoms for the first semiconductor layer are each assumed to be EA and EB, and the average ionizing energies of III group atoms and V group atoms for the second semiconductor layer are each assumed to be EC and ED, a relationship: EA >EC subsists, and at least one of the first and second semiconductor layers presents a strain.
  • the first semiconductor layer is the well layer
  • the second semiconductor layer is the barrier layer.
  • further relationship: EB ⁇ ED may subsist.
  • the above-described strain may increase the difference between the energy at the lower end of the conduction band of the first semiconductor layer and the energy at the lower end of the conduction band of the second semiconductor layer.
  • the above-described strain may lessen the difference between the energy at the upper end of the valence band of the first semiconductor layer and the energy at the upper end of the valence band of the second semiconductor layer.
  • the above-described strain may lessen the effective mass of the hole at the first and/or second semiconductor layers.
  • the III-V groups compound semiconductors may be used as the semiconductor substrate or the first and second semiconductor layers.
  • InP is used for the semiconductor substrate
  • InGaAs, InAlGaAs, or InGaAsP may be used and, as the second semiconductor layer, InAlAs or InP may be used.
  • GaAs is used as the semiconductor substrate, then, as the first semiconductor layer, GaAs may be used and, as the second semiconductor layer, AlGaAs may be used.
  • the crystal lattice constant of these semiconductors is properly selected so that at least one of these two semiconductor layers may have a tensile strain or a compressive strain.
  • the magnitude of this strain can be represented by the magnitude of the deviation of the crystal lattice constant of the semiconductor layer from that of the substrate with the latter taken as a criterion.
  • the magnitude of the strain is preferably more than 0.1% in order to display the strain effect of the semiconductor layer.
  • the non-strain semiconductor layer is supposed to also include ones having a fine strain of below 0.02% which can be substantially ignored.
  • the above-described second semiconductor layer comprises a layer for preventing the electron from transparently passing through and a multiple quantum barrier, which is a short period superlattice structure of a quantum barrier layer and a quantum well layer.
  • the quantum well layer may be formed of the same material as that of the first semiconductor layer, that is, the well layer.
  • a semiconductor photodetector which comprises at least a light absorptive layer and a superlattice avalanche multiplier layer on a semiconductor substrate characterized in that the superlattice avalanche multiplier layer comprises a well layer and a barrier layer, and the barrier layer comprises a layer for preventing the electron from transparently passing through and a multiple quantum barrier, the multiple quantum barrier comprising a quantum barrier layer and a quantum well layer and, assuming that the mean ionizing energy of III group atoms and the forbidden band gap for the well layer and the quantum well layer be EA and EgA respectively and the mean ionizing energy of III group atoms and the forbidden band gap for the layer for preventing the electron from transparently passing through and the quantum barrier layer be EC and EgC respectively, the following relationship subsists and at least one of these well layer and barrier layer has a strain.
  • the thickness of a single layer of the first semiconductor layer (that is, the well layer) and the second semiconductor layer (that is, the barrier layer) is preferably less than 1000 angstroms respectively, and the thickness of the avalanche multiplier layer is preferably less than 2 ⁇ m.
  • the thickness of a single layer of the quantum well layer and the quantum barrier layer is preferably less than 100 angstroms respectively, and the thickness of the multiple quantum barrier is preferably less than 1000 angstroms.
  • FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional APD
  • FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a specific embodiment of an APD according to the present invention.
  • FIGS. 3, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10 and FIG. 12 illustrate respectively the energy band structure of an APD according to the present invention.
  • FIG. 11 describes an example of calculation of the reflection coefficient of electron for an InAlAs/InGaAs multiple quantum barrier.
  • FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a specific embodiment of an APD according to the present invention.
  • a p-type InP buffer layer 13 On a p-type InP substrate 12, a p-type InP buffer layer 13, p-type InGaAs light absorptive layer 14, p-type semiconductor superlattice avalanche multiplier layer 15, p-type InP cap layer 16, n-type guard ring region 17, n + -type light receptive area 18 and a passivation film 8 are each formed.
  • an n-side electrode 10 is connected to the light receptive area 18, and a p-side electrode 9 is connected to the substrate 12.
  • the strain of the first and second semiconductor layers of the superlattice avalanche multiplier layer 15 may be any of the tensile strain or compressive strain but, in general, they are set so that at least one of the following may be realized, that is, (1) the discontinuity value ⁇ EC between the energies at the lower end of the conduction band of the first and second semiconductor layers is made greater, (2) the discontinuity value ⁇ Ev between the energies at the upper end of the valence band of the first and second semiconductor layers is made smaller, and (3) the effective mass of the hole of the first and/or second semiconductor layers is made smaller.
  • the semiconductor structure and, in particular, the superlattice avalanche multiplier layer 15 of the APD according to the present invention can be formed by using a growth technique such as MOVPE, MBE, gas source MBE or the like.
  • FIG. 3 illustrates an energy band structure of the APD according to the present invention in which the first semiconductor layer, that is, the well layer has a tensile strain, and the second semiconductor layer, that is, the barrier layer has no strain.
  • the well layer In x Ga l-x As (0 ⁇ x ⁇ 1) may be used and as the barrier layer, In Y Al l-Y As (0 ⁇ y ⁇ 1) may be used.
  • FIG. 4, (b) illustrates an energy band structure of the APD according to the present invention in which the first semiconductor layer, that is, the well layer has the compressive strain and the second semiconductor layer, that is, the barrier layer has no strain.
  • the well layer In x Ga l-x As (0 ⁇ x ⁇ 1) can be used and, as the barrier layer, In y Al l-y As (0 ⁇ y ⁇ 1) can be used.
  • the well layer has the compressive strain of 0.5%, as described above, then the degeneration of the energy level of the light and heavy holes is released, and the heavy hole becomes dominant.
  • the traveling time of the hole though the well layer can be shortened and the pile-up of the holes, which is caused by ⁇ Ev, can be alleviated, the photodetector of wide bandwidth and low noise can be achieved.
  • FIG. 5, (b) illustrates an energy band structure of the APD according to the present invention in which the first semiconductor layer, that is, the well layer has no strain, and the second semiconductor layer, that is, the barrier layer has a tensile strain.
  • the well layer In x Ga l-x As (0 ⁇ x ⁇ 1) can be used and, as the barrier layer, In y Al l-y As (0 ⁇ y ⁇ 1) can be used.
  • the electron which travels through the avalanche multiplier layer 15 can sense ⁇ EC at the boundary between the well layer and the barrier layer, and receive the corresponding ionization energy, a major ionizing factor ratio ⁇ / ⁇ can be achieved.
  • ⁇ EC becomes greater by 125 meV than the APD in which both the well layer and the barrier layer have no strain, the ionization factor ratio can be further increased.
  • FIG. 6, (b) illustrates an energy band structure of an APD according to the present invention, in which the first semiconductor layer, that is, the well layer has no strain, and the second semiconductor layer, that is, the barrier layer has a compressive strain.
  • the well layer In x Ga l-x As (0 ⁇ x ⁇ 1) may be used and, as the barrier layer, In y Al l-y As (0 ⁇ y ⁇ 1) may be used.
  • the electron which travels through the avalanche multiplier layer 15 can sense ⁇ EC at the boundary between the well layer and the barrier layer, and receive the ionizing energy corresponding to that energy amount, a major ionization factor ratio ⁇ / ⁇ can be obtained. Further, if the barrier layer has a compressive strain of 0.5%, as described above, since ⁇ Ev becomes smaller by 49 meV than a case in which both the well layer and the barrier layer have no strain, the pile-up of the holes, which is caused by ⁇ Ev, is alleviated so that a photodetector of wide bandwidth and low noise can be obtained.
  • FIG. 7, (b) illustrates an energy band structure of an APD according to the present invention in which the first semiconductor layer, that is, the well layer has a tensile strain, and the second semiconductor layer, that is, the barrier layer has a compressive strain.
  • the well layer In x Ga l-x As (0 ⁇ x ⁇ 1) can be used and, as the barrier layer, In y Al l-y As (0 ⁇ y ⁇ 1) can be used.
  • x and y are each selected so that the well layer has a tensile strain and the barrier layer has a compressive strain.
  • the electron which travels through the avalanche multiplier layer 15 can sense ⁇ E C at the boundary between the well layer and the barrier layer, and receive the corresponding ionizing energy, a major ionization factor ratio ⁇ / ⁇ can be obtained. Further if the well layer has a tensile strain of 0.5% and the barrier layer has a compressive strain of 0.5% as described above, then, since ⁇ Ev becomes smaller by 30 meV than a case in which both the well layer and the barrier layer have no strain, the pile-up of the holes, which is caused by ⁇ Ev, is alleviated, and a photodetector of wide bandwidth and low noise can be obtained.
  • the degeneration of the energy level of the light and heavy holes at the well layer is released, and the energy level of the light hole becomes higher by 36 meV than that of the heavy hole (that is, the ground level is taken).
  • the light hole becomes dominant for the holes within the well layer with the result that the traveling time of the hole at the well layer can be shortened, and the pile-up of the holes is alleviated so that a photodetector of wide bandwidth and low noise can be obtained.
  • FIG. 8, (b) illustrates an energy band structure of an APD according to the present invention in which the first semiconductor layer, that is, the well layer has a compressive strain and the second semiconductor layer, that is, the barrier layer has a tensile strain.
  • the well layer In x Ga l-x As (0 ⁇ x ⁇ 1) can be used and, as the barrier layer, In y Al l-y As (0 ⁇ y ⁇ 1) can be used.
  • the electron which travels through the avalanche multiplier layer 15 can sense ⁇ EC at the boundary between the well layer and the barrier layer, and receive the corresponding ionizing energy, a major ionization factor ratio ⁇ / ⁇ can be obtained.
  • ⁇ EC becomes greater by 164 meV than that of the APD in which both the well layer and the barrier layer have no strain, the ionization factor ratio can be further increased.
  • the well layer has the compressive strain of 0.5% and the barrier layer has the tensile strain of 0.5% as described above, since the degeneration of the energy level of the light and heavy holes at the barrier layer is released, and the energy level of the light hole becomes higher than that of the heavy hole by 33 meV (that is, the ground level is taken). As a result, the light hole becomes dominant for the holes within the barrier layer with the result that the traveling time of the hole at the barrier layer can be shortened and the pile-up of the holes is alleviated to obtain a photodetector of wide bandwidth and low noise.
  • FIG. 9, (b) illustrates an energy band structure of an APD according to the present invention in which the first semiconductor layer, that is, the well layer, and the second semiconductor layer, that is, the barrier layer both have a tensile strain.
  • the well layer In x Ga l-x As (0 ⁇ x ⁇ 1) can be used and, as the barrier layer, In y Al l-y As (0 ⁇ y ⁇ 1) can be used.
  • the electron which travels through the avalanche multiplier layer 15 can sense ⁇ E C at the boundary between the well layer and the barrier layer, and receive the corresponding ionizing energy, a major ionization factor ratio ⁇ / ⁇ can be obtained.
  • ⁇ E C becomes greater by 84 meV than that of the APD in which both the well layer and the barrier layer have no strain, the ionization factor ratio can be further increased.
  • both the well layer and the barrier layer each have a tensile strain of 0.5% as described above, since the degeneration of the energy level of the light and heavy holes at the well layer and the barrier layer is released and the energy level of the light hole becomes higher than that of the heavy hole by 36 meV for the well layer and by 33 meV for the barrier layer respectively (that is, the ground level is taken), the light hole becomes dominant for the holes within the well layer and the barrier layer with the result that the traveling time of the hole at both the well layer and the barrier layer can be shortened, and the pile-up of the holes is alleviated to obtain a photodetector of wide bandwidth and low noise.
  • FIG. 10 illustrates an energy band structure of an APD in which the second semiconductor layer, that is, the barrier layer has a multiple quantum barrier.
  • the barrier layer comprises a layer 21 for preventing the electron from passing through and a multiple quantum barrier 22.
  • the multiple quantum barrier 22 comprises a quantum well layer and a quantum barrier layer.
  • the former can be formed by using the same material as that of the first semiconductor layer, that is, the well layer, and the flatter can be formed by using the same material as that of the layer for preventing the electron from passing through.
  • FIG. 11 illustrates an example of calculation of the electron reflection coefficient of the electron for the multiple quantum barrier (MQB) when for the arrangement of FIG. 10 in which In x Ga l-x As (0 ⁇ x ⁇ 1) is used as the well layer and the quantum well layer, and In y Al l-y As (0 ⁇ y ⁇ 1) is used for the layer for preventing the electron from passing through and the quantum barrier layer, when it is compared with the case of a bulk barrier free from the multiple quantum barrier.
  • the electron which enters the multiple quantum barrier senses the reflection coefficient based on the interference effect even if it has an energy of above that of the quantum barrier layer. That is, it is possible to achieve an effective increase of the barrier effect. From FIG. 11 it can be found that the reflection coefficient of the electron will be increased up to about 1.7 times as large as that for the bulk barrier.
  • the effective barrier achieving by adding this increment ⁇ E MQ B is indicated by broken line in FIG. 11.
  • FIG. 12 illustrates an energy band structure of an APD of the present invention in which the barrier layer has the multiple guantum barrier while the well layer has a tensile strain and the barrier layer has no strain.
  • the well layer In x Ga l-x As (0 ⁇ x ⁇ 1) can be used and, as the barrier layer, In y Al l-y As (0 ⁇ y ⁇ 1) can be used.
  • the electron which travels through the avalanche multiplier layer 15 senses ⁇ EC plus ⁇ EMQB at the boundary between the well layer and the barrier layer and receives the corresponding ionizing energy, a further greater ionization factor ratio ⁇ / ⁇ can be obtained than when no multiple quantum barrier exists. Yet, the hole which travels through the valence band does not sense the multiple quantum barrier because its mass is great as compared with the electron with the result that a further multiplication of the electron can be promoted.
  • the present invention may be also applied to the arrangements of FIGS. 4 through 9 to similarly achieve a composite effect.
  • An APD having an arrangement as illustrated in FIG. 2 was made in the following manner.
  • EA was 4.42 eV
  • E B was 5.25 eV
  • EC 4.02 eV
  • ED was 5.52 eV.
  • the well layer had a tensile strain of 1.5%.
  • a p-type InP cap layer 16 was deposited.
  • Si of 1 ⁇ 10 13 cm -2 was ion-implanted up to the depth of 3000 angstroms at the accelerating voltage of 100 kV to obtain an area having a density of 5 ⁇ 10 16 cm -3 .
  • Si of 1 ⁇ 10 14 cm -2 was ion-implanted up to the depth of 0.5 ⁇ m at the accelerating voltage of 200 kV to obtain an area having a density of 1 ⁇ 10 18 cm -3 .
  • 1500 angstroms of a passivation film was formed and, as an n-side electrode 10, 1500 angstroms of AuGe/Ni and 500 angstroms of TiPtAu were deposited. In addition, as a p-side electrode 9, 1500 angstroms of AuZn was deposited.
  • an APD having the arrangement as shown in FIG. 2 was made in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment 1.
  • EA was 4.57 eV
  • EB was 5.28 eV
  • EC was 4.02 eV
  • ED was 5.51 eV.
  • the well layer of this APD had a compressive strain of 0.5%.
  • an APD having the arrangement as shown in FIG. 2 was made in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment 1.
  • EA was 4.63 eV
  • EB was 5.41 eV
  • EC was 3.99 eV
  • ED was 5.62 eV.
  • the barrier layer of this APD had a tensile strain of 0.5%.
  • an APD having the arrangement as shown in FIG. 2 was made in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment 1.
  • EA was 4.63 eV
  • EB was 5.41 eV
  • EC was 4.24 eV
  • ED was 5.57 eV.
  • the barrier layer of this APD had a compressive strain of 0.5%.
  • an APD having the arrangement as shown in FIG. 2 was made in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment 1.
  • EA was 4.59 eV
  • EB was 5.38 eV
  • EC was 4.24 eV
  • ED was 5.56 eV.
  • the well layer of this APD had a tensile strain of 0.5 % and the barrier layer had a compressive strain of 0.5%.
  • an APD having the arrangement as shown in FIG. 2 was made in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment 1.
  • E A was 4.67 eV
  • EB was 5.38 eV
  • EC was 4.03 eV
  • ED was 5.62 eV.
  • the well layer of this APD had a compressive strain of 0.5%
  • the barrier layer had a tensile strain of 0.5%.
  • an APD having the arrangement as shown in FIG. 2 was made in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment 1.
  • EA was 4.59 eV
  • EB was 5.38 eV
  • EC was 3.99 eV
  • ED was 5.62 eV.
  • both the well layer and the barrier layer of this APD each had a tensile strain of 0.5%.
  • an APD having the arrangement as shown in FIG. 2 was made in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment 1.
  • EA was 4.42 eV
  • EB was 5.25 eV
  • EC was 4.02 eV
  • ED was 5.52 eV
  • EgA was 0.83 eV
  • EgC was 1.50 eV.
  • the well layer of this APD had a tensile strain of 1.5%.
  • the semiconductor photodetector of the present invention it is possible to increase ⁇ EC to improve the ionization factor ratio, or lessen ⁇ Ev to alleviate the pile-up of the hole, or lighten the effective mass of the hole within the well layer and/or the barrier layer to shorten the traveling time of the hole.
  • the effective ⁇ EC can be increased so that the ionization factor ratio can be further increased.
  • a semiconductor photodetector having a wide bandwidth highly sensitive, low noise and high response characteristic can be realized.

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JP3149124A JPH04372178A (ja) 1991-06-21 1991-06-21 半導体受光素子
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JP3163057A JP3001291B2 (ja) 1991-07-03 1991-07-03 半導体受光素子
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US5801872A (en) * 1995-02-09 1998-09-01 Nec Corporation Semiconductor optical modulation device
US6188083B1 (en) * 1997-04-25 2001-02-13 Canare Electric Co., Ltd. Diodes with quantum-wave interference layers
US6229152B1 (en) * 1999-02-18 2001-05-08 The Trustees Of Princeton University Strain compensated indium galium arsenide quantum well photoconductors with high indium content extended wavelength operation
US6294795B1 (en) * 1998-04-28 2001-09-25 Canare Electric Co., Ltd. Light-receiving device with quantum-wave interference layers
US6331716B1 (en) * 1998-02-06 2001-12-18 Canare Electric Co., Ltd. Variable capacity device with quantum-wave interference layers
US6437362B2 (en) 2000-03-16 2002-08-20 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Avalanche photodiode
US6476412B1 (en) * 1997-04-25 2002-11-05 Canare Electric Co., Ltd. Light emitting semiconductor device with partial reflection quantum-wave interference layers
US6552412B2 (en) * 1998-05-26 2003-04-22 Canare Electric Co., Ltd. Semiconductor device with quantum-wave interference layers
US6818916B2 (en) * 1998-12-17 2004-11-16 Canare Electric Co., Ltd. Light-receiving device with quantum-wave interference layers
US7081639B2 (en) * 2000-06-06 2006-07-25 Fujitsu Quantum Devices Limited Semiconductor photodetection device and fabrication process thereof
US20070012965A1 (en) * 2005-07-15 2007-01-18 General Electric Company Photodetection system and module
US20090204381A1 (en) * 2008-02-13 2009-08-13 Feng Ma Simulation Methods and Systems for Carriers Having Multiplications
US20090309648A1 (en) * 2008-02-14 2009-12-17 Xinyu Zheng Single photon detection with self-quenching multiplication
US10128397B1 (en) * 2012-05-21 2018-11-13 The Boeing Company Low excess noise, high gain avalanche photodiodes
US11029406B2 (en) 2018-04-06 2021-06-08 Luminar, Llc Lidar system with AlInAsSb avalanche photodiode

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JPH06140624A (ja) * 1992-10-22 1994-05-20 Furukawa Electric Co Ltd:The ショットキー接合素子
KR960001467B1 (ko) * 1992-12-22 1996-01-30 한국 전기통신공사 초격자구조(superlattice)의 증폭층을 갖는 애벌란체 포토다이오드(APD:Avalanche Photodiode)
JPH07335934A (ja) * 1994-06-03 1995-12-22 Mitsubishi Electric Corp 光半導体素子,及びその製造方法

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Cited By (19)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5801872A (en) * 1995-02-09 1998-09-01 Nec Corporation Semiconductor optical modulation device
US6188083B1 (en) * 1997-04-25 2001-02-13 Canare Electric Co., Ltd. Diodes with quantum-wave interference layers
US6476412B1 (en) * 1997-04-25 2002-11-05 Canare Electric Co., Ltd. Light emitting semiconductor device with partial reflection quantum-wave interference layers
US6331716B1 (en) * 1998-02-06 2001-12-18 Canare Electric Co., Ltd. Variable capacity device with quantum-wave interference layers
US6664561B2 (en) 1998-04-28 2003-12-16 Canare Electric Co., Ltd. Light-receiving device with quantum-wave interference layers
US6294795B1 (en) * 1998-04-28 2001-09-25 Canare Electric Co., Ltd. Light-receiving device with quantum-wave interference layers
US6552412B2 (en) * 1998-05-26 2003-04-22 Canare Electric Co., Ltd. Semiconductor device with quantum-wave interference layers
US6818916B2 (en) * 1998-12-17 2004-11-16 Canare Electric Co., Ltd. Light-receiving device with quantum-wave interference layers
US6229152B1 (en) * 1999-02-18 2001-05-08 The Trustees Of Princeton University Strain compensated indium galium arsenide quantum well photoconductors with high indium content extended wavelength operation
US6437362B2 (en) 2000-03-16 2002-08-20 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Avalanche photodiode
US7081639B2 (en) * 2000-06-06 2006-07-25 Fujitsu Quantum Devices Limited Semiconductor photodetection device and fabrication process thereof
US20070012965A1 (en) * 2005-07-15 2007-01-18 General Electric Company Photodetection system and module
CN1897272B (zh) * 2005-07-15 2010-10-13 通用电气公司 光电探测系统
US20090204381A1 (en) * 2008-02-13 2009-08-13 Feng Ma Simulation Methods and Systems for Carriers Having Multiplications
US8239176B2 (en) * 2008-02-13 2012-08-07 Feng Ma Simulation methods and systems for carriers having multiplications
US20090309648A1 (en) * 2008-02-14 2009-12-17 Xinyu Zheng Single photon detection with self-quenching multiplication
US8022351B2 (en) * 2008-02-14 2011-09-20 California Institute Of Technology Single photon detection with self-quenching multiplication
US10128397B1 (en) * 2012-05-21 2018-11-13 The Boeing Company Low excess noise, high gain avalanche photodiodes
US11029406B2 (en) 2018-04-06 2021-06-08 Luminar, Llc Lidar system with AlInAsSb avalanche photodiode

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